Our police department at it again - Sigh.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i think folks at that age do very lil responsibly  thats why they can't hold certain positions  etc

[Matthew Carberry]

But rather than punish just those who actually commit a crime that hurts others, we (MADD) instead decide that parents should be denied the right to parent their children responsibly as they see fit?

[Firethorn]

The UK sure does! Soccer hooligans, chavs? People, especially young people, get drunk, break things, and hurt people for no good reason.

The UK has some rather severe problems with encouraging responsibility right now.

Note that I phrased the drinking in terms of parental control and moderation.  German judges have no problems throwing the book at people who commit wrong.

My main supervisor testified in a trial where a German man lost his driver's license for life do to what basically amounted to 'impolite driving'.  Of course, said German was a bit shocked - My supervisor at the time spoke fluent German, and reported the incident.  It happened less than a month after 9/11, and the judge berated the defendant for pulling stuff on an american(he knew it because of the plates) at the time, as we were already a bit panicked from the attacks - He pulled an aggressive pass then slowed down almost like he wanted my sup to rear-end him.  There were a number of other witnesses as well.

The guy tried to pull the 'I need to drive for my job'.  The Judge was 'Then you should of driven properly'.

i think folks at that age do very lil responsibly  thats why they can't hold certain positions  etc

Yet we allow them to join the military, drive tanks, carry full auto weaponry, and kill people, whether as military or police.

Some act irresponsibly.  Not all do.  For those under 18 - note that I was talking about drinking in the context of being under the parent's supervision, such that when they reach 21 and can purchase on their own it's not a big deal - none of this trying to drink 21 shots in the hours after their 21st birthday.

[Tallpine]

it puts North Carolina in a no-tolerance position, which is what law enforcement wants

Yeah, and what law enforcement wants, law enforcement gets 


Tell me again the part about how they are just enforcing the laws enacted by the elected legislature ...   

[ilbob]

The ACLU has never legally defended the act of pedophilia.

perhaps not the act itself. but they have defended several times the rights of pedophiles to be pedophiles.

[The Viking]

cassandrasdaddy,

do you believe that it is possible for somebody under 21(or 18) to imbibe alcohol responsibly?

I spent several years in Germany - they didn't have anything like the underage drinking problems we have.

Europe as a whole doesn't have the 'problem'.

Why don't I think that they have the problem?  Because the kids grow up with it not being a 'special' adult beverage, which has them wanting it, looking forward to it, and in the states, end up taking it with their peers, not around adults, in unsafe manners such as binge drinking.

If they grew up with a small glass of beer or wine, or a sip of grandma's mixed drink, it becomes not such a big deal.

I've seen the reports 'people who start drinking under the age of 21 are more likely to become alcoholics' - yet when you look at their cases, they're the ones that start at 15 or so outside of the purview of their parents.

Most of continental Europe has VERY relaxed laws regarding alcohol. I believe that Denmark didn't have a minimum age to BUY alcohol until very recently. Same with tobacco...now the poor Danish youth's have to wait until they are a staggering 16!.
Friend of mine in Germany had no problems BUYING alcohol when she was 14...she has turned out all right as far as I can tell...
And up here, in the Cold North, we have a bit more restrictions than the rest of Europe. This resultet in moonshining becoming almost a national sport. I believe my father and his friends made some small amounts of booze every now and then. People still do it, even though cheap, unlimited amounts of alcohol from Estonia, Germany and Poland has dampened it, people still do it. Probably out of rebellion.